U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley (Office of Diversity and Inclusion — The Ohio State University).
With Donald Trump winning the presidency, a federal judge in Ohio who was appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton has chosen to rescind his decision to take “senior status” — preventing the future 47th president from being able to appoint a successor — following Trump’s election win over Kamala Harris, according to reports.
Speaking in a letter viewed by Reuters and the Columbus Dispatch on Monday, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley tossed his hat back into Ohio’s Southern District ring, telling the Biden administration he would be remaining active after officially rescinding a “senior status” bid he made in October 2023 to semi-retire.
President Joe Biden never nominated anyone to replace the 70-year-old after his announcement last year on account of there being a split in support from the state’s two senators, Republican Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who would have needed to each confirm Biden’s nominee, per the Senate’s “blue slip” policy. This ultimately led to Marbley’s decision, he says.
“A successor has not been confirmed, and I have therefore decided to remain on active status and carry out the full duties and obligations of the office,” Marbley wrote in his letter to the White House on Nov. 8. “Please accept this letter as a formal withdrawal of my intention to assume senior status.”
The federal judiciary lists 47 judicial seats as currently being vacant, with 17 nominees “pending” and awaiting a final confirmation vote on Tuesday. Biden has nominees chosen for at least 28 of those seats as Democrats are racing to confirm as many judges and regulators as possible before Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
“While still in charge of the Senate and the White House, we must do all we can to safeguard our democracy,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in a Time magazine editorial on Nov. 7. “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must use every minute of the end-of-year legislative session to confirm federal judges and key regulators — none of whom can be removed by the next President.”
Marbley, a grandfather and North Carolina native, was appointed by President Clinton in 1997 to replace John David Holschuh’s vacated seat. He has served as the Chief District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio since 2019, with him being the first Black person ever appointed to the position. Marbley has also been an adjunct professor at Ohio State University since 1998 and was inducted into the school’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion Hall of Fame earlier this year.
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“In his over 24 years serving as a district court judge, Judge Marbley has presided over some of the most important cases in central Ohio and the country, ranging from voting rights issues to issues involving policing,” his ODI bio reads. “The Washington Post adopted one of his statements during a trial as its motto: ‘Democracy dies in darkness.””
As of Tuesday, the Senate has confirmed at least 213 of Biden’s judicial nominees, according to Reuters. Democrats currently hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the chamber, but that all changed on Election Day as Republicans managed to take back control — gaining a 53-47 majority — following GOP flips in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio.
“We are going to get as many done as we can,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement this week about the confirmations, per Reuters.
Republican and Democratic leaders have been flocking to Washington to take part in the Senate chamber’s lame-duck session, with each side calling on members to show up and fight for their respective parties.
Senate Republicans *must* hold the line and vote down these lifetime judicial appointments until January.
The American people voted for monumental change.
Grind the Senate to a halt.
We will watch this very carefully at the @Article3Project.
No excuses, senators.
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) November 8, 2024
Attempts to reach Marbley and the Biden administration for comment by Law&Crime have been unsuccessful.
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